This invention is concerned with garments, especially tactical garments for personnel carrying concealed weapons. In particular the invention encompasses a jacket, windbreaker or other upper garment with a quick-opening feature at the side for fast access to a weapon or other item when needed.
Vests, jackets and shirts have been known for the purpose of allowing police or other armed personnel quick access to a concealed weapon. See, for example, 5.11 Inc. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,760,922 and 6,986,164. The tactical garments of these patents allow fast access to a gun or other weapon carried in the garment itself along the chest or below the armpit of the user.
A handgun is often carried at the user's side, either with a shoulder holster or with a hip-mounted holster, but in either event concealed by a garment, which may be a jacket, coat or windbreaker that lies over and covers the weapon. There is a need for a jacket, coat or windbreaker that, while hiding a weapon retained at the side of the user, provides for quick access to the weapon by opening of the jacket with a single hand.
The invention fills this need with a coat, jacket, vest or windbreaker (hereinafter “jacket”) that has a slit opening down one or both sides, preferably from just below the armpit or armhole to the bottom edge of the jacket, closed with a non-locking zipper by downward pull of the zipper's slider. The zipper is essentially concealed by a flap when closed. At the exterior of the jacket near the bottom edge, a rip cord that extends through an opening in the jacket, with a small gripping tab at the end of the cord. The cord is secured to a plastic buckle or clip somewhat similar to a backpack buckle, positioned along the inside surface of the jacket so as to be hidden from the outside. The buckle or clip snaps together to hold the closed jacket opening secured at bottom. When the rip cord is pulled, a spring-biased rocker of the buckle is lifted, which releases the buckle, pulls the front portion of the jacket away from the rear portion and causes opening of the zipper to separate the jacket along the opening line, up to just below the arm if desired. The weapon is then exposed for access. The wearer can thus quickly reach a weapon or other implement by a rapid one-handed pull of the rip cord.
It is among the objects of the invention to allow fast access to a weapon retained at a user's side, by a jacket that normally conceals the weapon but which can be rapidly opened along a side opening line by a single pull of a release cord or rip cord to simultaneously release a locking clip securing the opening at the bottom, unzip the zipper and fully separate the jacket at the opening. These and other objects, advantages and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment, considered along with the accompanying drawings.